Thursday, January 19, 2012

The murder of Oury Jalloh & the struggle for justice

The article below, reposted from Uhuru News, covers a recent attack by German police on a protest against the police murder of an African named Oury Jalloh. The Uhuru Solidarity Movement stands in solidarity with the struggle for justice and reparations to the family of Oury Jalloh and the entire African community who have faced colonial violence from the white imperialist State (in the UK, the US and throughout the world where Africans are dispersed and colonized) for more than five centuries. The case of Oury Jalloh is one example of how Africans in Europe--many of whom in recent times have migrated there in pursuit of their own resources that have been stolen to build up European society-- experience colonial conditions of repression and violence just as they do in North America. We say, Down with US and European colonial violence! Justice for Oury Jalloh! Reparations to the African Nation!

Shared from Uhuru News: On January 7, 2005, Oury Jalloh, a young African from Sierra Leone/Guinea, was violently detained by police terrorists in the city of Dessau, Germany and taken to a holding cell in the basement of the local police station.

Four hours later his body was found in a charcoaled state, his corpse chained at the hands and feet to a fireproof mattress.

For seven years, the Initiative in Remembrance of Oury Jalloh has fought for truth, justice and indemnity. Nevertheless, the authorities have responded with terrorism, repression, cover-up and systematic lies.

On January 7, 2012, police terrorists attacked the march in memory of Oury Jalloh in Dessau, Germany. The demonstration was met with massive police brutality and violence against the peaceful demonstrators.

Several demonstrators were injured by the police terrorists. Throughout the demonstration, the behavior of the police terrorists had been provocative and highly aggressive.

In addition to the intentional interferences by the police and the enormous police presence, brutality and arbitrariness, the police especially targeted the leading activists of the Initiative in Remembrance of Oury Jalloh-- Komi Edzro, Mbolo Yufani and Mouctar Bah.

Mouctar Bah was the target of police terrorist attacks before, during and at the end of the demonstration. The strategic aggression against the founder of the Initiative in Remembrance of Oury Jalloh had been announced two days prior to the demonstration when the police threatened Mouctar Bah saying that they would no longer tolerate the word 'murder' with regard to the case of Oury Jalloh and would hold him responsible if it were used during the demonstration.

However, in 2006, courts had already decided that the slogan, 'Oury Jalloh-- That Was Murder' was legally allowed, and the police had no legal restraint allowing them to forbid certain statements at the demonstration.

Therefore this prohibition was a tremendous violation of the right of freedom of speech rooted in the Basic Constitutional Law.

The police tried to keep the demonstrators from referring to the case of Oury Jalloh as murder by violently attempting the removal of those who exposed it as such and abruptly beating on them.

At the end of the demonstration Mouctar Bah was thrown to the ground and beaten until he lost consciousness and had to be brought to the hospital in an ambulance. He is currently still hospitalized due to his injuries caused by the police terrorists.

One of the Initiative's leaders, Komi Edzro, stated, "No matter how hard the police attacks and injures us, we will never give up the fight for a clarification of the murder of Oury Jalloh."